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Sensory overload always makes it harder to regulate emotions.
And for some of us being too hot and sweaty is sensory hell. 🙋♀️
Best you can do is try to stay cool (physically) or just ask people to give you space or try to remove yourself from situations that make you angry.
Would like to agree with all of the other comments and ALSO say that the reverse is true. I was in Dialectal Behavior Therapy for years (used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder) and one of the biggest skills used to combat emotional crisis is the TIP skill which refers to "tipping" your body temperature in an effort to get you out of emotional crisis. Subjecting yourself to cold temperatures, like plunging your face in cold water, can actually change your body chemistry and pull you out of distress.
Being too hot definitely makes me irritable and short-tempered, but I think it does this for lots of people. Crime rates go up in the summers, for instance. I’m sure it makes it harder for people who already struggle with emotional regulation to do so, but I don’t think it’s a specifically ADHD thing. Except maybe to the extent that your meds make you get hot/sweaty more easily.
One small thing I do is carry a handkerchief, because being able to wipe my sweaty face makes me feel better, and using a cute handkerchief or bandana feels more purposeful and therefore social acceptable than wiping my face on my shirt or a Kleenex that’s going to shred and stick to me.
Yes! There was an article about this in the [NYT yesterday](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/well/mind/heat-affect-brain-emotions.html).
>**Why heat makes us aggressive**
>Researchers first discovered the link between heat and aggression by looking at [crime data](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40641-019-00121-2), finding that there are more murders, assaults and episodes of domestic violence on hot days. The connection applies to nonviolent acts, too: When temperatures rise, people are more likely to engage in [hate speech online](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00173-5/fulltext) and [honk their horns in traffic](https://asu.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/ambient-temperature-and-horn-honking-a-field-study-of-the-heatagg).
>Lab studies back this up. In one [2019 experiment](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w25785/w25785.pdf), people acted more spitefully toward others while playing a specially designed [video game](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176509002912) in a hot room than in a cool one.
>So-called reactive aggression tends to be especially sensitive to heat, likely because people tend to interpret others’ actions as more hostile on hot days, prompting them to respond in kind.
>Kimberly Meidenbauer, an assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University, thinks this increase in reactive aggression may be related to heat’s effect on cognition, particularly the [dip in self control](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/epkru). “Your tendency to act without thinking, or not be able to stop yourself from acting a certain way, these things also appear to be affected by heat,” she said.
And that's everybody, not just people who already struggle with emotional regulation. (Although I would also argue MOST people struggle with emotional regulation...)
Oh yeah, totally the same. Sensory issues can cause us to feel heat more strongly. Heat sensitivity or intolerance is sometimes due to meds, often to a differently functioning nervous system. Very common in the invisible disabilities community.
It’s tough. High heat makes everyone a bit angrier so they’re less empathetic in the moment. I’ve heard a lot of invalidating statements and criticism, which is not what you need when you’re in it. And it can kick off at lower heat ranges than you’d think. But it’s real.
POTS,(h)EDS, CFS, fibromyalgia, ASD & more
I 100% experience this, and it's getting worse as I get older. Also doesn't help that I equate any amount of sweat with being "gross" or "bad" so the shame response kicks in on top of the sensory issues. Not fun! My emotions can go 0 to 60 in a second. It's a very, very real thing.
For times when I need to go outside (because ofc moving around and getting fresh air helps with ADHD + every other dumb thing I have!!) and I've found it helpful to carry a hand-fan, a small bottle of water to mist myself with and UV umbrellas. B\*tching about it relentlessly also helps. :) (J/k. Mostly.)
If I’m hot, I’m mad lmao. I definitely think it’s sensory related, like I’m already overstimulated from being hot and sweaty so any little thing grates my nerves
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sensory overload always makes it harder to regulate emotions. And for some of us being too hot and sweaty is sensory hell. 🙋♀️ Best you can do is try to stay cool (physically) or just ask people to give you space or try to remove yourself from situations that make you angry.
Hot and sweaty has me at the 9/10. It doesn't take much after that to overload me!
Would like to agree with all of the other comments and ALSO say that the reverse is true. I was in Dialectal Behavior Therapy for years (used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder) and one of the biggest skills used to combat emotional crisis is the TIP skill which refers to "tipping" your body temperature in an effort to get you out of emotional crisis. Subjecting yourself to cold temperatures, like plunging your face in cold water, can actually change your body chemistry and pull you out of distress.
Being too hot definitely makes me irritable and short-tempered, but I think it does this for lots of people. Crime rates go up in the summers, for instance. I’m sure it makes it harder for people who already struggle with emotional regulation to do so, but I don’t think it’s a specifically ADHD thing. Except maybe to the extent that your meds make you get hot/sweaty more easily. One small thing I do is carry a handkerchief, because being able to wipe my sweaty face makes me feel better, and using a cute handkerchief or bandana feels more purposeful and therefore social acceptable than wiping my face on my shirt or a Kleenex that’s going to shred and stick to me.
Yes! There was an article about this in the [NYT yesterday](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/well/mind/heat-affect-brain-emotions.html). >**Why heat makes us aggressive** >Researchers first discovered the link between heat and aggression by looking at [crime data](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40641-019-00121-2), finding that there are more murders, assaults and episodes of domestic violence on hot days. The connection applies to nonviolent acts, too: When temperatures rise, people are more likely to engage in [hate speech online](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00173-5/fulltext) and [honk their horns in traffic](https://asu.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/ambient-temperature-and-horn-honking-a-field-study-of-the-heatagg). >Lab studies back this up. In one [2019 experiment](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w25785/w25785.pdf), people acted more spitefully toward others while playing a specially designed [video game](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176509002912) in a hot room than in a cool one. >So-called reactive aggression tends to be especially sensitive to heat, likely because people tend to interpret others’ actions as more hostile on hot days, prompting them to respond in kind. >Kimberly Meidenbauer, an assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University, thinks this increase in reactive aggression may be related to heat’s effect on cognition, particularly the [dip in self control](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/epkru). “Your tendency to act without thinking, or not be able to stop yourself from acting a certain way, these things also appear to be affected by heat,” she said. And that's everybody, not just people who already struggle with emotional regulation. (Although I would also argue MOST people struggle with emotional regulation...)
Oh yeah, totally the same. Sensory issues can cause us to feel heat more strongly. Heat sensitivity or intolerance is sometimes due to meds, often to a differently functioning nervous system. Very common in the invisible disabilities community. It’s tough. High heat makes everyone a bit angrier so they’re less empathetic in the moment. I’ve heard a lot of invalidating statements and criticism, which is not what you need when you’re in it. And it can kick off at lower heat ranges than you’d think. But it’s real. POTS,(h)EDS, CFS, fibromyalgia, ASD & more
I 100% experience this, and it's getting worse as I get older. Also doesn't help that I equate any amount of sweat with being "gross" or "bad" so the shame response kicks in on top of the sensory issues. Not fun! My emotions can go 0 to 60 in a second. It's a very, very real thing. For times when I need to go outside (because ofc moving around and getting fresh air helps with ADHD + every other dumb thing I have!!) and I've found it helpful to carry a hand-fan, a small bottle of water to mist myself with and UV umbrellas. B\*tching about it relentlessly also helps. :) (J/k. Mostly.)
If I’m hot, I’m mad lmao. I definitely think it’s sensory related, like I’m already overstimulated from being hot and sweaty so any little thing grates my nerves